Why 2M Cross Axle has Groove?Older 2M axles didn't have these grooves, and sometimes they can be a real pain to remove from parts which don't allow them to be pushed from the other side, so I'm fairly confident too that's the reason, similar to how grooves have been added to tiles. Considering it's alse less plastic, I wouldn't be too surprised if LEGO chooses at some point to modify the other axles the same way.

Aug6

comment

How can odors be removed from bricks?For people answering, feel free to also assess the issue of animal odors (sadly enough, a box full of small LEGO parts looks very much like a litter box to some cats)

Aug4

comment

Identification of arm like beamWhile they go nicely together, they are not pre-assembled, so they are to be considered as individual parts which can be used independently. I didn't know it even happened in an official LEGO set, though - nice catch

What are the armless minifigures from the LEGO boardgames called?I don't mean the inventory in the instructions (they don't name parts anyway, just part IDs); but the online inventory which has part names as known by LEGO. Unfortunately my link doesn't work directly, you'll still need to enter your age and country, then "my set is missing a piece", then a set number (3874 for example), then when you click on on of the microfigs you'll see their name. Interestingly, the red one is named "BABY", though.

Minifig with multiple arms?Very complete answer, even if it lacks pictures ;-) My first thought was for the Space Police alien, didn't know his name was Frenzy.

Jul23

comment

Common, practical use for this pieceThe rubber bands are simply wrapped around it when you buy the set. I believe it can help preserving the band by stretching it to a point where it won't degrade over time, but I'm not too sure of the physics involved here, or even if that's even remotely true. One of the reasons I doubt that is that I think LEGO doesn't use the part much anymore and ship rubber bands in small cardboard boxes (like capes). So the hypothesis "not to lose them" seems to be a better one.

Jul23

comment

Where are the cloth / fabric minifigure capes / cloaks in my set?Now that we understand your problem was with finding them in the first place, I believe the question "Where are capes or other cloth items in my set" is actually an useful one, which can benefit other members. Could you maybe rephrase the question (and your answer) in that direction?